Bridging Cultures and Empowering Assistants with Evelyne Moser

Evelyne Moser · 0:00

Hey everyone, this is Evelyne Moser. Today's leadership quote is from Jocko Willink: The most important thing a leader can do is lead by example. The Leader Assistant Podcast exists to encourage and challenge assistants to become confident, game-changing leader assistants.

Jeremy Burrows · 0:34

Hey friends, welcome to the Leader Assistant Podcast. It's your host, Jeremy Burrows, and today's conversation is actually episode 396. You can check out the show notes for this conversation at leaderassistant.com/396. Today I'm excited to be speaking with Evelyne Moser. Evelyne is founder and CEO at Smart Business Partners.

Evelyne Moser · 0:58

Hi, Jeremy.

Jeremy Burrows · 0:59

And Evelyne is actually a Switzerland-born executive assistant, but she now lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota. So we'll hear a little bit about that journey. That's a little bit of a different part of the world for sure. So Evelyne, first of all, welcome to the show. And we'd love to hear what's one thing you like to do when you're not working?

Evelyne Moser · 1:26

So first of all, Jeremy, thank you so much for having me. It's a real pleasure being on the show. I love being outdoors. Maybe that's my Swiss heritage, kind of. We all are outdoorsy people, and I love doing gravel bike rides, hiking, and just doing sports outside.

Jeremy Burrows · 1:45

Love it. And you, so you obviously moved across the world to Minneapolis, Minnesota. I'm sure there are people thinking, myself included, why would you move from Switzerland to Minnesota? Or as I like to say, Minnesota.

Evelyne Moser · 2:01

Yes, yes, I do get that question pretty often. So it basically all started with when I started working for an international company that started to extend their business into Switzerland. We had a brand new site that was built close to where I resided at that time, and I was lucky enough to become one of the assistants on site. And we had 38 nationalities and I was one of the very few Swiss people. So everybody was from abroad joining us on site. And the aspiration of living and working abroad basically came up from working alongside all these super interesting people who all had lived abroad for at least 1 year. And I was the very only person who had never been anywhere else than in Switzerland. And Coming back to your question, why Minnesota? I was also lucky enough to be able to travel here many times during my time at this international company. And I got to know the people, I got to know the state, the country. I've also been many times to California, but in the end, the decision was made for Minnesota and here I am.

Jeremy Burrows · 3:16

Wow, that's great. And how long have you been there so far?

Evelyne Moser · 3:21

It's now my 4th week.

Jeremy Burrows · 3:22

Oh, wow. Very fresh.

Evelyne Moser · 3:24

Very fresh.

Jeremy Burrows · 3:26

Well, at the time of recording this, it's fall or it's about to— it's just started fall, I guess. And, you know, you're going to have to report back after you make it through a Minnesota winter because those are pretty, pretty frigid. Although I guess Switzerland, you probably get a lot of snow too, right?

Evelyne Moser · 3:45

We do, but it's not as cold as it is here in Minnesota.

Jeremy Burrows · 3:51

Gotcha.

Evelyne Moser · 3:52

I will let you know how I made it through.

Jeremy Burrows · 3:55

Sounds good. Sounds good. Well, tell us a little bit about your career. How did you get into the assistant role initially? And, you know, how, yeah, how was that journey of being an assistant?

Evelyne Moser · 4:08

Absolutely. So in Switzerland, we do have a bit of a different educational system. We have apprenticeships where you do work and study at the same time. While being paid. So after mandatory school, I went that route and I became like an office merchant, I would call it. I was able to go through several departments like marketing, finances, logistics. And it was at that time when I realized that the administration, keeping things together, having an overview across several streams of tasks and projects really suited me. And that is how I then got into the assistant profession. And in Switzerland, there is also a recognized executive assistant study, and that is a 2-year program which I completed back in 2016, and that got me into the executive assistant role later then in 2017.

Jeremy Burrows · 5:12

Awesome. So, when you jumped into that EA role, what was maybe your favorite part and your least favorite part as you got into that?

Evelyne Moser · 5:22

Well, my favorite part certainly is the collaboration with people. I love working across departments, continents, countries. That is something I truly, truly appreciate. What maybe is the least favorite part is when things are floating apart. When nothing fits together, you have to run and make sure that things are starting to make sense again. Maybe also have to go behind people in a way because they don't come back with the information required. So, this is certainly something which is part of the job and of course taken care of. But yeah, if I have to decide, that would be certainly one of the least favorite parts.

Jeremy Burrows · 6:09

Yeah, I can relate to that. I always kind of say the, my least favorite part is waiting on other people and needing other people. I'm like, I like to just get stuff done and not have to be reliant on, on team members. But, uh, yeah, so I can definitely relate. Um, so, okay. So then what was the drive or the force behind, you know, you partnered with top-level executives across continents. You know, I guess you actually tell us a little bit before I get to the next question. Tell us a little bit about your partnership forum. You said you chaired the 3M Global Assistant Partnership Forum, providing inspiration and opportunities for the company's internal administrative professionals worldwide. So how did you get involved in that and what did that look look like?

Evelyne Moser · 7:07

Yes, that was a very big part and a part that I'm still very passionate about. I was basically recruited from one of my team colleagues. She was located and is still located in the US, but at that time, she was here in St. Paul. And she was like, Evi, you have to join GAPF. You have great opportunities of developing yourself and also developing leadership skills. So, I started as a project I'm a project team member with marketing at that time. And then I worked my way up, going from team member to become a team leader, kind of, to become— to get more responsibilities, to become co-chair. And in the end, I became the chair. Also, I'm seeing our annual 3M Global Summit Award event. So at 3M, we do have assistant recognition. We do have this annual event that I was able to— I'm seeing, and also then the assistant day in April. So I basically started as a regular member, and then over time I moved up with a lot of encouragement also from the ladies at this group. That was amazing to have such talented people around me really helping me to level up myself and to develop and get farther than I would have maybe if I would not have had them.

Jeremy Burrows · 8:38

Yeah, that's great. So a lot of people that I've talked to, a lot of assistants that I've talked to, they're like, hey, we're trying, you know, they have a large company with a lot of assistants and they try to put together networking events and resources and whatever. And sometimes they get pushback or they don't get, it's hard for them to get participation, right? So how, How did you see in your involvement in that forum at 3M, what did you see that you guys did well that really encouraged assistants to participate and get involved and not just kind of stay over there at their desk and get their job done and not really connect and network and get involved?

Evelyne Moser · 9:21

Yeah, I think it was really that they saw that those who participated, they in the end also had a career path that they were able to pursue because we offered development opportunities that actually also helped them to progress in their career. So, it was pure role model type of advertisement. They saw people are going further, people are succeeding in their pursuit for whatever they wanted to go to. And then also with the awards, I think that was a big part where they realized, oh, this is something that is not just for the assistant organization, but it's company-wide recognized. And that gave it a lot of importance.

Jeremy Burrows · 10:10

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. That's super awesome. I did a training for a company and it's really cool to see those, to interact with those companies that care about their assistants and that give them opportunities and have these forums and have these development opportunities, you know, available to them. So that's awesome. All right. Well, okay. So then tell us about why you started anew as an entrepreneur.

Evelyne Moser · 10:44

Yes, that is, that is the most exciting and frightening adventure of my life so far. And the reason why really came out of that aspiration that built up during my time in this very international environment of wanting to live and work abroad. And when I realized it will not be possible with the company I worked for, because doing visas for foreign people via an employer is a very, very— it's a very expensive process. It's very difficult to get people in. And so I realized I will not be able to make it with the company. And that's when I then decided I will then do it myself. Because this wish was so— the aspiration was so big, I just could not let it go. I knew if I would not pursue that right now, I would forever feel like I have missed a great opportunity and I would not be able to forgive me later on.

Jeremy Burrows · 11:46

Yeah. Yeah. So what is it? How's that looked? What do you currently do? How have you found clients? You know, yeah, give us the rundown on your current gig. Okay.

Evelyne Moser · 12:00

So it was December 2024 when I made the decision to leave the company and pursue that visa myself. I then remained in the company for another year, but in January 2025, I got myself an immigration lawyer and I started the whole process, which took me in the end 18 months to obtain the visa. And in these 18 months, I was traveling to the US back and forth to open bank accounts. I was getting an office space for myself. I did training development myself, networking. I had to invest quite some money as well for the visa. I then quit my job beginning of this year, went to a small company, very small company with 5 employees. So from the big corporation, I went to a very small company.

Jeremy Burrows · 12:54

Yeah.

Evelyne Moser · 12:55

But this was all of my plan because I knew I will have to get other experience to also be able to be flexible and then also to manage the fact that my visa application took a lot longer than I expected. So it was a bit of both. And in July this year, I was able to go and have the visa interview at the embassy in Bern, the US Embassy in Bern back in Switzerland. And my visa was approved for the full amount of years possible, for 4 years. And end of August, just a month ago, I relocated to Minneapolis. And here I am finally being able to occupy my own office, finally being able to start up my business. And so far, it's been good. I do have a couple of leads. It's really amazing. And I'm extremely happy and hopeful that this is going to get to a contract sign pretty soon. So yeah, all in all, it's going well.

Jeremy Burrows · 13:59

Wow. What was the I know you said it was a big dream of yours and all that, but what's kind of the thing that kept you going when you're on those days where you're like, oh, this is such a process, this is going to take forever. Is it my— am I really— should I really do this? Like, other than that, like, oh, you always wanted to do it. Is there something else that kind of just kept you going in those days where you're just like, oh my goodness, why am I doing this?

Evelyne Moser · 14:30

Yes, yes, there is. Absolutely. I just, I always knew I want to live a life to, you know, that I want to live my life to the fullest possible. I want to leave a kind of legacy, not, not in a way that I want to be famous or any, anything like that, but just more, you know, I want to be able to tell a story and I want to be able to inspire others to also overcome their fears. So basically be scared and do it anyway. That's my big motivator. And with that, knowing that also, I believe I can do more than what I have done so far. And that's what kept me going no matter what came across. It just kept me going and it's still the same.

Jeremy Burrows · 15:11

Awesome. Love it. Well, what do you hope to, as you get these clients going and hopefully get these contracts signed, what do you hope to specialize in? You know, Is there a certain type of support that you really excel with and want to focus on? Yeah, what are you hoping to help people with your current business?

Evelyne Moser · 15:36

Absolutely. So I focus on 3 pillars. First of it is executive assistant services still for business owners, for corporations needing support partnership with a very experienced EA when it comes to project management, to certain things they might need help with. So that's pillar 1. Pillar 2 is the consulting part I want to focus on. With me having worked across 2 continents for many years, Switzerland and the US, but also then EMEA countries that I was closely working with, that really brought me this background, the cultural awareness, which I want to bring back to my consulting part now with companies, especially from Switzerland, Austria, and Germany extending their businesses into the US, helping them bridging cultural differences they might not be aware of.

Jeremy Burrows · 16:35

Yeah.

Evelyne Moser · 16:37

And the third pillar really is training and development where I want to go into my Global Assistant Partnership Forum skill set I built while being chair and while being in that team for many years. And on top of that, also delivering the Global Skills Matrix together with Lucy Brazier to the companies, corporations here in the Twin Cities. Those are the 3 pillars I'm focusing on now.

Jeremy Burrows · 17:02

That's great. Awesome. Well, Evelyne, this is very inspiring to hear, you know, how you've— your journey and how you've traveled literally across the world and taken a lot of risk, right? Like, it's always inspiring when to hear from and to speak with other people who have stepped outside their comfort zone and taken a risk. It always inspires me and encourages me to take risks, right? So, really, really appreciate you coming and sharing a little bit of your story. Is there anything, kind of last words you want to say to the assistants from all over the world listening right now as we wrap things up?

Evelyne Moser · 17:54

Yeah, absolutely. I would say, you know, believe in your abilities, move forward, and don't be afraid if things are unknown because In the unknown, there is the biggest growth for us. And with my experience that I'm making now, I would not have grown as much as if I would have remained in Switzerland. So go out there, be brave, know your worth, and know that you can achieve everything you want if you just believe in yourself.

Jeremy Burrows · 18:27

Love it. Thank you so much. That was great. And if anybody wants to connect with you and say hi, I can put links in the show notes, but where's the best place for people to reach out?

Evelyne Moser · 18:41

Totally. I would say right now it's LinkedIn. I'm on LinkedIn pretty often, so I should reply there quite, quite soon. Otherwise, of course, my website, there is also a contact me button. You can, they can reach me over, over this one, but I would say LinkedIn is the place where you can reach me best.

Jeremy Burrows · 19:01

Perfect. Well, I will share your LinkedIn and your website at leaderassistant.com/396. So people can reach out and yeah, thank you so much. I really appreciate it. Good luck with your business. Good luck with the Minnesota weather this winter. And yeah, we really appreciate all that you've done for the global assistant community and yeah, so let's stay in touch for sure.

Evelyne Moser · 19:28

Absolutely. Thank you so much again.